Academics

Courses: Nostalgie,la maladie du retour (FRENB654001)

Class Number: 1846This seminar will enquire on the origins and the development of the discourse on nostalgia in the 18th and 19th centuries. Nostalgia was first conceived as a real disease by physicians, who hesitated between a physical and a moral interpretation, and between a spatial and a temporal perspective. Rousseau and other prominent writers played a crucial role in defining and shaping an affection that became more and more fashionable. We shall discuss the (ab)use of nostalgia in medicine, politics, and literature.